Everyone in AI is placing bets, and no two bets look quite alike. Meta Platforms Inc. (META), Apple Inc. (AAPL), OpenAI, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) are all angling for position as demand for computing power keeps outrunning supply and new AI formats pull in more users.

CLSA Sees Chip Shortage Lasting Through 2030

CLSA's Bhavtosh Vajpayee told CNBC on Wednesday that the industry remains in the early stages of its AI buildout, which makes it tough to say which downstream companies will ultimately dominate.

How tight is the market? CLSA estimates demand for GPUs and custom AI chips currently exceeds supply by about 73%, and it expects the shortage to persist until roughly 2030.

That timeline matters because plenty of investors are positioning for the cycle to crest in 2028. Vajpayee called that expectation "utterly wrong." In his view, upstream semiconductor and hardware companies stand to benefit from a shortage that is worsening even as AI infrastructure spending expands.

He also noted that large semiconductor companies trade at lower valuation multiples than many other parts of the AI ecosystem, which is a polite way of saying the picks-and-shovels crowd may be cheaper than the story stocks.

Meta's Muse Highlights Easier AI Adoption

Vajpayee flagged Meta's Muse as a notable recent development because it makes creating AI agents easier through simple language commands.

That simplicity is the point. He believes easier interfaces could expand AI use among consumers who have no interest in learning to code or wrestling with complex development tools.

He expects similar advances to emerge in China, where companies including Alibaba are also building smaller AI models.

Apple Could Become A Key AI Gateway

Vajpayee expects smaller AI models to push artificial intelligence beyond data centers and onto personal devices.

OpenAI is developing its own device, but Vajpayee pointed to Apple as particularly important because smartphones already sit at the center of consumers' daily lives.

He said the smartphone could become the primary gateway through which many consumers access AI services.

For now, though, CLSA sees clearer opportunities in the hardware supplying the AI boom than among model developers, where Vajpayee said it remains too early to determine the eventual winners.

Price Action: Microsoft shares were up 0.60% at $501.00, Meta Platforms shares were up 0.90% at $743.24 and Apple shares were up 0.24% at $340.57 during premarket trading on Wednesday, according to market data.